Towel-rack.



H. A. AMMANN- TOWEL mum. v APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 29, NM.

Patented May 9,1916.

Ehwwmtoz ime.

nanny AAMMANN, or SPO:

NE, WASHINGTON.

rowan-anon.

specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented May 9, 191146.

Application filed September 29,1914. Serial Ito.8% ,059.

To all whom it may concern.

lBe'it known that I, HENRY A. A rMANrI, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at vSpokane, in the county of Spokane "and State ofWashingtomhave invented certain new and useful Im rovements in. lowel-Racks, of which the ollowing is a specification. a

towels .are stacked,"and an anchored flexi ble line or wire extendsthrough the stack of clean towels, and away or downwardly. fromthelatter, in such a manner that the clean towels may-be withdrawnfrom thetop of the stack alongsaid flexible line to the desired point of use. Inplaces wherea receptacle is employed for the soiled towels, my inventioncontemplates extending the free end of the flexible line into suchreceptacle and providing such freehnd of the line with a suitableenlargement to prevent the soiled towels from stringing ofl from thefree end of the line. It is also within the scope of my invention toanchor the free end of the line adjacent the bottom of the receptacle sothat both ends of the line will be anchored, one end being preferablyadjustably anchored so as to take up slack to the desired extent. Myinvention also includes an open guide for supporting an intermediateportion of ,the flexible line, p'referably, adjacent the top of thestack of clean towels, to prevent pulls and jerks on the line fromshifting-the clean towels out of atruly stacked form, and over whichopen guide the towels may be advanced along the flexible line to thepoint of use.

It is a special object of my invention to provide an all flexible lineor wire on which the towels are strung in order to permit of cleantowels being strung on the line 01" t5 wire {at the laundry, anddelivered already strung, to the hotel rack or other place of use,thereby avoiding the delay to guests or customers incident to stringingthe clean towels on a rodor chain fixedjzo the towel rackor shelf, .atthe time the clean towels are installed on the shelf or rack at theplace of use. In this feature, my invention clearly distinguishes fromsuch a structure 5 as is shown in the patent to Albert C. Way,;.

dated July 2, 1907, Number 858,931, wherein the rigid rod portions wouldpreclude and pulls imposed.

delivery of clean towels already strung on the rod for attachment of therod to the rack when 'the to'wels are delivered.

A further and very important object of my invention is to avoid the useof gromets or eyelets which have heretofore been deemed necessary, and Iaccomplish this ob-.

ject by' using imperforate and-wholly flexible towels and stringing thesame on a line or wire which' is also flexible.

Thus the flexible line yields vvhenthe towel is pulled and jerkedincident to use of the towel in wiping the'hands and face, therebypreventing the formation of any enlarged hole in .the ungromett ed towelwhich would inevitably result if an initially imperforate towel werestrung upon a rigid rod incapable of yielding in response to the jerksAnother important feature consists in providing the flexible line with asharpened pointed end which is readily forced through the imperforatetowels to string the latter on the flexible line. Thus the towels comingfrom the mangle need not be assembled in predetermined order, as isnecessary with grometted towels, to'dispose all the grometted corners ofthe towels in superposed relation. The time involved in stacking towels'is thereby greatly reduced by the use of this invention because theflexible line maybe strung through any corner of any one of the towelsor at any other point desired. p

Further objects and features of the invention'will be more fullydescribed in con nection with the accompanying drawing and will be moreparticularly pointed out in and by the appended claims. v t

In the drawing-:Figure 1 is a perspective viewof' my improved towel rackand attachment. Fig. 2 isa view in front elevation of one of thefeatures constituting my invention. Fig. 3 is a View in side elevationof the structure shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4:. is a sectional view taken online 44 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows a means for attaching one end of mytowel supporting wire. Fig. 6' shows a modified form of my 'invention.Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout thedifferent figures of the drawing.

' As illustrated my invention is "applied to a rack designated generallyat- 10 and having lot linen l2 and compartment I 13 tojreceive soiledlinen'14. k

A standard 15,which is preferably made i of metal, is supported on theedge of rack board 16 by lugs 17 and 18. resting above and below .16,respectively. The rack board 16 forms substantially the bottom of thecompartment 11. Standard 15 is attached to rack 16 by means 'ofscrewssuch-as 19.

. forked as indicated at 20.

The upper end of standard orprong-is The towels 12 and 14; are threaded'or strung on wire 21, the end 22 of which is .sharpened'as shown in Fig.3. Permanently fastened to one end 23 of wire 21 is the snap' hook 24whichfis adapted to snap into the number of clean towels will first bethreaded screw eye 25, which in turn is screwed into a bottom slat 26 ofthe compartment 13. The other end 'of wire 21 passes through the forkedend 20 ofstandard 15 and through a suitable hole in rack board 16 asindicated at 27. Registering with a hole 27 is a hole 28'provided in lug18, allowing the end 22 of .wire 21 to be thrust down into the posi-'tion shown in Fig.3. The wire 21 is locked in this position means of setscrew 29,

the end-30 of which will bear against .21.

Set screw 29 is placed at the angle shown' in Fig. 4 in order 'to bemore accessible from the. front of the rack. 29 will be operated bymeans of key wrench (not shown) which .will be in the possession ofauthoritative parties only. The key wrench will fit into the socket" 31screw 29. Y I

The method of suppl ing the rack and using the towels is as ollows: Asuitable provided in the end of in any desired. manner on wire 21 andslid down until tllifil'St one strikes the snap hook 24 which will actas a stop. The long length of free wire remaining will then be wrappedaround the bundle of towels to aid in transportation. When an empty rackis to be supplied the loose wire is unwound and end 22 thrust throughholes 27 and 28 until it projects below 117 as shown in Fig. 3. Thereason for thrusting 22 through so far is to prewhen itis desired towipe ones hands the towels may be lifted and drawn over the wire 21 sothat the corner of the towel may pass between the prongs 20. The slackin 21, however, will not be sufficient to allow wire 21 to be slippedover the ends 20 of 20. After the towel is soiled it is simply droppedand will slide down into section 13.

menses In the modified form of my invention, as shown in Fig. 6, a ring31 is substituted for prong 20, the advantage of this construction beingthat the amount of slack in wire 21 unlimited since it is impossible forsaid wire 21 to slip out of the ring. By allowing this additional slackin the wire it is possible to over again. Now, while I have shown the sowire 21 simply threaded through onecorner of the towels it will beunderstood that It may insert metal eyelets to relieve the strain on thelinen." However, I have found by long experience that by the time allfour corners ofthe towels would be worn out by direct application ofthe-wire, the rest of the towel would be unfit for use. Therefore due tothe resulting saving in expense, I prefer to wire the towels without theuse of eyelets. It will be understood that I do not wish to be limitedto the'use of a wire as indicated at 21, as any form of line, such as aflexible cord or chain would perform the function equally well andtherefore in the claims I have referred to the wire 21 as a flexibleline. It will be noted that the fork or prong 20 I functions broadly asa guide of the open type, and by reason of the fact that it supports anintermediate length'of the line or wire 21 adjacent the top of the stackof towels, the topmost towels of the stack may be lifted ofi andadvanced along the line or wire 21, through the open guide, and thenlengthwise or downwardly along the depending length of line or wire tothe point of use. This guide therefore preserves the towels in stackform irrespective of the manner in which the line or wire 21 is drawntaut by manipulation of the towel resulting from its handling by theuser. 'It will also be noted that the set screw '29 may engage the towelend of the wire or line at any desired point lengthwise thereof so as tothereby lengthen or contract the wire 21 in accordance with theelevation of the towel shelf above the basket, this being possible andalso advantageous by reason of the fact that the purveyor of the devicemay employ a single stock of wire of a single length for towel racks ofall sizes. Moreover, this ad- 'justable feature permits of a sufficientslack of the wire to afford freedom of use and also avoid such slack aswould result in the W11: becoming free from the guide. I ""Because'ofthe cost of providing the towels with eyelets and by reason of the factthat such metal parts greatly interfere with the rocess of laundryingthe towels, it has long een desired to avoid their use entirely in mamasconnection of towels of this character. Furthermore, where eyelets areprovided, a great deal of time is lost in stacking clean towels byreason of the fact that it is necessary to dispose the towels in a.predetermined order with all of the eyelet corners in one corner of thetowel stack. After the towels are stacked, that corner of the stackwhere the eyelets are located lies at a very material elevation withrespect to the remaining corners of the stack because of the increasedthickness of the eyelets and therefore the towel stack presents a veryunsymmetrical appearance when disposed upon a public rack.

By means of my improved flexible line stack form at the laundry, andtransported to the rack without again stringing the towels, the wireperforming not only the function of an attaching device but also of awrapping cord.

Applicant believes that he is the. pioneer, 'in this art, in providing astringer, which may be a'flexible line, together with means coactingwith. the stringer and the'towels strung thereon to hold the towels fromun stringing, during transport of'said strung towels from the laundry orlike point, on

scribed one specific form of my invention I:

do not wish to be limited thereto except for the stringer, to a rack. So-far as applicant is aware, he is the first to string towels at thelaundry, and deliver such clean towels, already strung, for attachmentto any desiredg'ack or support at the point of use.

It is believed that the novelty and utilityof the device-of my inventionwill be fully understood from the foregoing description and while I haveherein shown and desuch limitations asthe claimsmay import.

rack, means for locking said wire and said lower lug comprising a holethrough which said wire passes, a set screw entering said lower lug at.an angle less than ninety degrees with the edge of the lug one end ofsaid set screw pressmg against the end of said wire and the other end ofsaid set screw being socketed to receive a key wrench, substantially asdescribed.

I 3. In a towel holder, a support for a stack of towels, a flexible linehaving a towel end strung downwardly through said stack of towels andanchored, the remaining length of said 'fiexible line extending over thesupport and depending downwardly from the top of said stack of towels,and a guide loosely supporting an intermediate portion ofsaid flexibleline adjacent the top of said towel stack, said guide being open topermit of towels grasped from the top of the stack being advanced alongsaid flexible line over said guide and downwardly along the dependingportion of the line to the desired point of use, the terminal end ofsaid depending flexible line having'an enlargement to prevent the usedtowels from being 'strung off from said line, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a towel holder, a support for a stack of towels, a flexible linehaving a towel end strung downwardly through said stack of towels, theremaining length of said flexible line extending over the support anddepending downwardly from the top of said stack of towels, and a guideloosely supporting an intermediate portion of said flexible line adjacent the top of said towel stack, said guide being open to permit oftowels grasped from the top of the stack being advanced along saidflexible line over said open guide and downwardly along the dependingportion of the line to the desired point of use, both ends of said linebeing anchored and-one-of said ends being adjustably anchored to afiordsufiicient slack ofthe line to permit of flexibility and freedom of useor to extend or contract the length of said line, but

I30 I claim the line from said open guide, substantially 1. In a meansfor supportin and -dispens-,- ing towels, a supporting rac r, a fork'extending at right angles to and attached to said supporting rack, awire passing through the crotch of the fork, one end of said wire beingsharpened and locked in the tllt lower portion of said fork, and theother end of said wire being snapped to another portion of thesupporting rack, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, a towel holding wire, a fork overwhich said wire is trained, sa1d fork having lugs extending above andbelow said supporting.

rack, means for attaching said fork to said vices for attachment-ofbothends of said line whereby a clean stack of towels may be installedon said' rack structure as o r iginally strung at the laundry,substantially as described a 6. Ian attachment for towel holders, aflexible stringer for insertion through an initially imperforate stackof clean towels at the laundry to hold the clean towels in strung formduring transport of the clean towels and stringer to the place of use,anda towel support at said place of use having a device for attachmentthereto of one end of the stringer with the'clean towels strung thereonfor withdrawal of the towels along the stringer toward the remaining endof the latter to the point of use, substantially'as described.

7. Asa; means for assembling individual towels at a laundry fortransport to the place of use, a plurality of-flexible stringers, oneeach adapted to be forced through a stack of clean towels and upon anyone of which a number of towels may be strung, said towels beinginitially imperforate and said stringers being of suchsmall crosssection as to merely displace the threads of the towel fabric ratherthan disrupt the towel fabric in passing through the towels to therebyprevent the formation of permanent openings in the towels, whereby theinitially imperforate towels may be assembled in stack form a pluralityof times without regard to the relative positions of those portions laststrung with respect to adjacent towels of the stack to beformed, each ofsaid stringers being provided with means whereby it may be attached to atowel stand, substantially as described. g

8. In combination, a support for an initially imperfoi'ate stack ofclean towels, a receptacle forthe soiled towels, and a flexible linehaving a flexible portion strung through said clean towels and anchored,the remaining end of'the line being anchored adjacent said receptaclewhereby a towel may be taken from the stack and advanced lengthwise ofsaid line to the point of use and then bedeposited in said receptacle,substantially as described' 4 vanced from the stack to a suitableposition v for use, substantially as described.

10. In an individual towel attachment of the class described, a towelrack for supporting initially imperforate clean towels in stacked form,a plurality of flexible stringers for said rack for transport with theclean towels strung thereon from the laundry to the rack and fortransport with the soiled towels strung thereon from the rack to thelaundry, and means for attaching or detaching said stringers to or fromsaid rack, with the clean or soiled towels strung on said stringers,substantially as described.

=11. In an attachment for towel racks of the character described, aflexible line having an end for insertion through a clean stack oftowels, an enlargement on one end of said 11m to prevent the towels fromstringing off from said line while the towels and said line are intransport from a'laundry to a rack,

and a rack structure for supporting the clean strung towels and having adevice for attachment to one end ofsaid line projecting from said strungstack of clean towels, substantially as described.

12. In a towel holder, a support for a I stack of clean towels, areceptacle for the soiled towels, a flexible line extending through saidstack of clean towels and being anchored,'the remainder of the lineextending into and being anchored in said receptacle, and meanssupporting an intermediate portion of said flexible line, substantiallyas.

described.

13." In an attachment for towel racks of the character described, aflexible stringer havinga flexible stringer portion for insertionthrough initially imperforate clean towels at the laundry to holdsuchclean towel-s in strung form during transport of the clean towelswith'the stringer from the laundry to the place of use, and saidstringer having an intermediate portion extending from said stringerportion, and a towel support at said place of use having a device forattachment of said ,stringer'portion with the clean towels in collectedform for advancement of the clean towels off from the stringer portionalong the intermediate portion to the point HENRY A. AMMANN.

